Al Qaeda and gifts from the Queen

Al Qaeda and gifts from the Queen

For years, the Queen has rewarded the police officers who guard her Sandringham estate with miniature bottles of whisky.

It transpires that the number of gifts she bestows is not only a closely guarded secret but a matter of grave national security.

That is the view of Norfolk Police. It has declined a request made under the Freedom of Information Act to divulge how many of its officers received presents because, it says, it would allow ‘domestic or foreign terrorists to establish the level of police protection afforded to Royal residences’.

In a five-page explanation, the force added that such information amounted to ‘vital intelligence’ that might have disastrous consequences were it to fall into the hands of dangerous extremists such as Al Qaeda.

Police keep details about gifts from the Queen secret... because it might help extremists (Daily Mail, 8 August 2009)